Jack Hayward
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199216314
- eISBN:
- 9780191712265
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216314.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
National disunity has been perpetuated and exacerbated by competing interpretations of the French Revolution despite effort to inculcate a common political culture. The authoritarian clericalism of ...
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National disunity has been perpetuated and exacerbated by competing interpretations of the French Revolution despite effort to inculcate a common political culture. The authoritarian clericalism of Maistre, the Protestant liberalism of Madame de Stael and Constant, the political scientism of the Ideologues, the industrial positivism of Saint-Simon and Comte, the Republican political economy of Say, and the historicist Orleanism of the Doctrinaires are successively confronted.Less
National disunity has been perpetuated and exacerbated by competing interpretations of the French Revolution despite effort to inculcate a common political culture. The authoritarian clericalism of Maistre, the Protestant liberalism of Madame de Stael and Constant, the political scientism of the Ideologues, the industrial positivism of Saint-Simon and Comte, the Republican political economy of Say, and the historicist Orleanism of the Doctrinaires are successively confronted.
Hugh Grady
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198183228
- eISBN:
- 9780191673962
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198183228.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Shakespeare Studies, Criticism/Theory
This is a major study of the history of Shakespeare criticism in the modern era. Every epoch recreates its classic icons — and for literary culture none is more central nor more protean than ...
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This is a major study of the history of Shakespeare criticism in the modern era. Every epoch recreates its classic icons — and for literary culture none is more central nor more protean than Shakespeare. Even though finding the authentic Shakespeare has been a goal of scholarship since the 18th century, he has always been constructed as a contemporary author. This book charts the construction of Shakespeare as a 20th-century Modernist text by redirecting ‘new historicist’ methods to an investigation of the social roots of contemporary Shakespeare criticism itself. Beginning with the formation of professionalism as an ideology in the Victorian age, this book describes the widespread attempts to save the values of the culturalist tradition, in reformulated ‘Modernist’ guise, from the threat of professionalist positivism in modernized universities. The tension between professionalism and culturalism gave rise to the Modernist Shakespeare of G. Wilson Knight, E. M. W. Tillyard, and American and British New Critics, and still conditions the postmodernist Shakespearean criticism of contemporary feminists, deconstructors, and ‘new historicists’.Less
This is a major study of the history of Shakespeare criticism in the modern era. Every epoch recreates its classic icons — and for literary culture none is more central nor more protean than Shakespeare. Even though finding the authentic Shakespeare has been a goal of scholarship since the 18th century, he has always been constructed as a contemporary author. This book charts the construction of Shakespeare as a 20th-century Modernist text by redirecting ‘new historicist’ methods to an investigation of the social roots of contemporary Shakespeare criticism itself. Beginning with the formation of professionalism as an ideology in the Victorian age, this book describes the widespread attempts to save the values of the culturalist tradition, in reformulated ‘Modernist’ guise, from the threat of professionalist positivism in modernized universities. The tension between professionalism and culturalism gave rise to the Modernist Shakespeare of G. Wilson Knight, E. M. W. Tillyard, and American and British New Critics, and still conditions the postmodernist Shakespearean criticism of contemporary feminists, deconstructors, and ‘new historicists’.
Wallace Matson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812691
- eISBN:
- 9780199919420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812691.003.0015
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals, a patron of Greek culture, founded in Alexandria, capital of his Egyptian empire, the Library, the greatest depository of Greek literature, and the Museum, a ...
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Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals, a patron of Greek culture, founded in Alexandria, capital of his Egyptian empire, the Library, the greatest depository of Greek literature, and the Museum, a research institute. Science made great advances in the Museum. The Library produced great scholars but little new literature. The principal philosophical innovation of the period was the rise of Skepticism, which utterly rejected high beliefs, whether tethered or not. Greek Skepticism is the ancestor of modern Positivism and Pragmatism, not of Cartesian skepticism. It was quite correct for its time, but it is a good thing that it did not prevail, for it would have eliminated the element of imagination that is essential to science.Less
Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals, a patron of Greek culture, founded in Alexandria, capital of his Egyptian empire, the Library, the greatest depository of Greek literature, and the Museum, a research institute. Science made great advances in the Museum. The Library produced great scholars but little new literature. The principal philosophical innovation of the period was the rise of Skepticism, which utterly rejected high beliefs, whether tethered or not. Greek Skepticism is the ancestor of modern Positivism and Pragmatism, not of Cartesian skepticism. It was quite correct for its time, but it is a good thing that it did not prevail, for it would have eliminated the element of imagination that is essential to science.
A. H. Halsey
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199266609
- eISBN:
- 9780191601019
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199266603.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
It is becoming standard for sociologists to preface their books with a brief autobiography. This I have done, emphasizing belief in the potency of politics as the atmosphere of LSE in the 1940s. A ...
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It is becoming standard for sociologists to preface their books with a brief autobiography. This I have done, emphasizing belief in the potency of politics as the atmosphere of LSE in the 1940s. A strong tradition of empirical sociological enquiry has existed since the ‘invisible college’ of the seventeenth century. But sociology belongs to all human civilization, not only to Britain, which was arguably slow in promoting academic sociology.Five themes will be elaborated in the following chapters: (1) The consequences of Darwin; (2) the division of ownership of the subject between science and literature; (3) methods in the study of society focussing on the scientific and statistical history of the sample survey; (4) the use of sociology in social policy and its characteristic capture by the Fabians and (5) the institutionalization of academic sociology at LSE before 1950.Less
It is becoming standard for sociologists to preface their books with a brief autobiography. This I have done, emphasizing belief in the potency of politics as the atmosphere of LSE in the 1940s. A strong tradition of empirical sociological enquiry has existed since the ‘invisible college’ of the seventeenth century. But sociology belongs to all human civilization, not only to Britain, which was arguably slow in promoting academic sociology.
Five themes will be elaborated in the following chapters: (1) The consequences of Darwin; (2) the division of ownership of the subject between science and literature; (3) methods in the study of society focussing on the scientific and statistical history of the sample survey; (4) the use of sociology in social policy and its characteristic capture by the Fabians and (5) the institutionalization of academic sociology at LSE before 1950.
A. H. Halsey
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199266609
- eISBN:
- 9780191601019
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199266603.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
Between the Robbinsian expansion of the 1960s and the restrictions of the 1980s there was, among other social dramas, a period of student rebellion, imported largely from California and France. ...
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Between the Robbinsian expansion of the 1960s and the restrictions of the 1980s there was, among other social dramas, a period of student rebellion, imported largely from California and France. Sociology was not a prime cause but bore a main part of the consequences. Over the centuries, British students have been relatively peaceable. Low student/staff ratios, the absence of a separate administration, and shared domesticity had distinguished British universities from their counterparts in France. Germany, and USA. The LSE, a recent addition, approximated least to the ‘English idea of the university’ and it was here that the troubles began. In consequence, the popular image of the undergraduate was transformed, and sociologists were widely held to have been responsible, but the most serious consequence was the rise of anti‐positivism and the intellectual disarray of sociology itself.Less
Between the Robbinsian expansion of the 1960s and the restrictions of the 1980s there was, among other social dramas, a period of student rebellion, imported largely from California and France. Sociology was not a prime cause but bore a main part of the consequences. Over the centuries, British students have been relatively peaceable. Low student/staff ratios, the absence of a separate administration, and shared domesticity had distinguished British universities from their counterparts in France. Germany, and USA. The LSE, a recent addition, approximated least to the ‘English idea of the university’ and it was here that the troubles began. In consequence, the popular image of the undergraduate was transformed, and sociologists were widely held to have been responsible, but the most serious consequence was the rise of anti‐positivism and the intellectual disarray of sociology itself.
Jason Ralph
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199214310
- eISBN:
- 9780191706615
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214310.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines why legal positivism emphasises the importance of sovereign consent and relates it to the pluralist conception of international society introduced in the previous chapter. This ...
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This chapter examines why legal positivism emphasises the importance of sovereign consent and relates it to the pluralist conception of international society introduced in the previous chapter. This is contrasted with a solidarist conception that identifies sources of law in processes that override the principle of sovereign consent. The chapter also examines the specific and contested role that peremptory norms play in the constitution of international society. Finally, it relates this debate to the contemporary critique of customary international law within American academia and within certain parts of the political and judicial branches of US government. It illustrates this with reference to the debate on the Alien Tort Claims Act and to documents claiming executive privilege in the war on terror.Less
This chapter examines why legal positivism emphasises the importance of sovereign consent and relates it to the pluralist conception of international society introduced in the previous chapter. This is contrasted with a solidarist conception that identifies sources of law in processes that override the principle of sovereign consent. The chapter also examines the specific and contested role that peremptory norms play in the constitution of international society. Finally, it relates this debate to the contemporary critique of customary international law within American academia and within certain parts of the political and judicial branches of US government. It illustrates this with reference to the debate on the Alien Tort Claims Act and to documents claiming executive privilege in the war on terror.
Allan C. Hutchinson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195343250
- eISBN:
- 9780199867752
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343250.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
This book explores the implications of taking a vigorously democratic approach to issues of traditional legal theory. Allan C. Hutchinson introduces the democratic vision and examines the ...
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This book explores the implications of taking a vigorously democratic approach to issues of traditional legal theory. Allan C. Hutchinson introduces the democratic vision and examines the complementary philosophy of a Dewey-inspired pragmatism. This is followed by an examination from a pragmatic perspective of the dominant theories of analytical jurisprudence in both their positivist and naturalist forms. The book emphasizes the contested concepts of “truth”, “facts”, and “law/morality relation” and explores what a more uncompromising democratic/pragmatic agenda for law and legal theory would entail. The author's intent is to contribute to the shift away from a technical and elite philosophical approach to jurisprudence to a more democratic engagement. It advances and follows through on the critical claim that there is no position of theoretical or political innocence. Like the law it seeks to illuminate, legal theory must recognize its own political and social setting as well as its own responsibilities. Moreover, whatever else democracy might entail or imply, it opposes elite rule whether by autocrats, functionaries or theorists, however enlightened or principled their proposals or interventions may be: authority must come from below, not above.Less
This book explores the implications of taking a vigorously democratic approach to issues of traditional legal theory. Allan C. Hutchinson introduces the democratic vision and examines the complementary philosophy of a Dewey-inspired pragmatism. This is followed by an examination from a pragmatic perspective of the dominant theories of analytical jurisprudence in both their positivist and naturalist forms. The book emphasizes the contested concepts of “truth”, “facts”, and “law/morality relation” and explores what a more uncompromising democratic/pragmatic agenda for law and legal theory would entail. The author's intent is to contribute to the shift away from a technical and elite philosophical approach to jurisprudence to a more democratic engagement. It advances and follows through on the critical claim that there is no position of theoretical or political innocence. Like the law it seeks to illuminate, legal theory must recognize its own political and social setting as well as its own responsibilities. Moreover, whatever else democracy might entail or imply, it opposes elite rule whether by autocrats, functionaries or theorists, however enlightened or principled their proposals or interventions may be: authority must come from below, not above.
Joel Feinberg
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195155266
- eISBN:
- 9780199833177
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195155262.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This collection of essays is united by a common concern with basic questions pertaining to law and morality and the relation between the two. The first essay considers whether judges must appeal to ...
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This collection of essays is united by a common concern with basic questions pertaining to law and morality and the relation between the two. The first essay considers whether judges must appeal to natural law or natural justice when the law seems incomplete or indeterminate. In cases in which the law is immoral, natural law theorists and legal positivists align in their rejection of a moral obligation to obey the law. The second essay defends the view that moral rights exist independently of institutional structures. The complex issue of criminal entrapment is the focus of the third paper, and the position defended is that although an entrapped person sometimes may not be held criminally liable for the crime she voluntarily commits as a result of police enticement, in many cases we may make adverse moral judgments about her conduct. The view espoused in the fourth essay is that completed crimes and failed attempts should be treated in the same way when determining the appropriate punishment. The fifth essay offers various arguments to support the claim that funding of the arts through taxation is justified. Among other things, the arts offer intrinsic, though often benefitless, value to society, which is worthwhile to maintain and preserve. In the sixth paper, the discussion focuses on the notion of pure evil, or sheer wickedness, contrasting it with that of mental illness (or sick! sick! sickness) and identifying some places in which this distinction blurs. The final essay in this collection looks at how, since Plato's time, moral language and psychiatric language have fused ideas of immorality and mental illness.Less
This collection of essays is united by a common concern with basic questions pertaining to law and morality and the relation between the two. The first essay considers whether judges must appeal to natural law or natural justice when the law seems incomplete or indeterminate. In cases in which the law is immoral, natural law theorists and legal positivists align in their rejection of a moral obligation to obey the law. The second essay defends the view that moral rights exist independently of institutional structures. The complex issue of criminal entrapment is the focus of the third paper, and the position defended is that although an entrapped person sometimes may not be held criminally liable for the crime she voluntarily commits as a result of police enticement, in many cases we may make adverse moral judgments about her conduct. The view espoused in the fourth essay is that completed crimes and failed attempts should be treated in the same way when determining the appropriate punishment. The fifth essay offers various arguments to support the claim that funding of the arts through taxation is justified. Among other things, the arts offer intrinsic, though often benefitless, value to society, which is worthwhile to maintain and preserve. In the sixth paper, the discussion focuses on the notion of pure evil, or sheer wickedness, contrasting it with that of mental illness (or sick! sick! sickness) and identifying some places in which this distinction blurs. The final essay in this collection looks at how, since Plato's time, moral language and psychiatric language have fused ideas of immorality and mental illness.
Alexander Orakhelashvili
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199546220
- eISBN:
- 9780191720000
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546220.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
There are frequent claims that the international legal regulation in one or another field of international law is uncertain, vague, ambiguous, or indeterminate, which does not support the stability, ...
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There are frequent claims that the international legal regulation in one or another field of international law is uncertain, vague, ambiguous, or indeterminate, which does not support the stability, transparency, or predictability of international legal relations. This monograph examines the framework of interpretation in international law based on the premise of the effectiveness and determinacy of international legal regulation, which is a necessary prerequisite for international law to be viewed as law. This study examines this problem for the first time since these questions were addressed, and taken as the basic premises of the international legal analysis in the works of J. L. Brierly and Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. Addressing the different aspects of the effectiveness of legal regulation, this monograph examines the structural limits on and threshold of legal regulation, and the relationship between the established legal regulation and non-law. Once the limits of legal regulation are ascertained, the analysis proceeds to examine the legal framework of interpretation that serves the maintenance and preservation of the object and intendment of the existing legal regulation. The final indispensable stage of analysis is the interpretation of those treaty provisions that embody the indeterminate conditions of non-law. Given that the generalist element of international legal doctrine has been virtually silent on the problem and implications of the effectiveness and determinacy of international legal regulation, this study examines the material accumulated in doctrine and practice for the past several decades, including the relevant jurisprudence of all major international tribunals.Less
There are frequent claims that the international legal regulation in one or another field of international law is uncertain, vague, ambiguous, or indeterminate, which does not support the stability, transparency, or predictability of international legal relations. This monograph examines the framework of interpretation in international law based on the premise of the effectiveness and determinacy of international legal regulation, which is a necessary prerequisite for international law to be viewed as law. This study examines this problem for the first time since these questions were addressed, and taken as the basic premises of the international legal analysis in the works of J. L. Brierly and Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. Addressing the different aspects of the effectiveness of legal regulation, this monograph examines the structural limits on and threshold of legal regulation, and the relationship between the established legal regulation and non-law. Once the limits of legal regulation are ascertained, the analysis proceeds to examine the legal framework of interpretation that serves the maintenance and preservation of the object and intendment of the existing legal regulation. The final indispensable stage of analysis is the interpretation of those treaty provisions that embody the indeterminate conditions of non-law. Given that the generalist element of international legal doctrine has been virtually silent on the problem and implications of the effectiveness and determinacy of international legal regulation, this study examines the material accumulated in doctrine and practice for the past several decades, including the relevant jurisprudence of all major international tribunals.
Andrew Vincent
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199271252
- eISBN:
- 9780191601101
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199271259.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Explores the generic foundations of political theory in the twentieth century. It sorts and analyses the overarching perceptions of the political theory, at a broad level of generality, during the ...
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Explores the generic foundations of political theory in the twentieth century. It sorts and analyses the overarching perceptions of the political theory, at a broad level of generality, during the bulk of the century. The five positions outlined are normative political theory, institutional theory, historical political theory, empirical political theory, and ideological theory.Less
Explores the generic foundations of political theory in the twentieth century. It sorts and analyses the overarching perceptions of the political theory, at a broad level of generality, during the bulk of the century. The five positions outlined are normative political theory, institutional theory, historical political theory, empirical political theory, and ideological theory.
Andrew Vincent
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199271252
- eISBN:
- 9780191601101
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199271259.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Examines the advent of logical positivism, the development of conceptual analysis, ordinary language philosophy, the so‐called death of political theory, the impact of linguistic philosophy and the ...
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Examines the advent of logical positivism, the development of conceptual analysis, ordinary language philosophy, the so‐called death of political theory, the impact of linguistic philosophy and the influence of Wittgenstein's thought on political theory, and particularly the idea of ‘essential contestability’.Less
Examines the advent of logical positivism, the development of conceptual analysis, ordinary language philosophy, the so‐called death of political theory, the impact of linguistic philosophy and the influence of Wittgenstein's thought on political theory, and particularly the idea of ‘essential contestability’.
Andrew Vincent
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199271252
- eISBN:
- 9780191601101
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199271259.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Examines the intellectual context of the works of Jürgen Habermas and Hans‐Georg Gadamer. Both thinkers successfully utilize language and dialogue to develop a viable perspective on political theory, ...
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Examines the intellectual context of the works of Jürgen Habermas and Hans‐Georg Gadamer. Both thinkers successfully utilize language and dialogue to develop a viable perspective on political theory, which does not succumb to postmodern or conventionalist critique. The linking element underpinning all these discussions is the focus on language and dialogue as the central facets of political theory. This chapter examines the inception of critical theory and then provides a detailed review of the contribution of Habermas to contemporary political theory.Less
Examines the intellectual context of the works of Jürgen Habermas and Hans‐Georg Gadamer. Both thinkers successfully utilize language and dialogue to develop a viable perspective on political theory, which does not succumb to postmodern or conventionalist critique. The linking element underpinning all these discussions is the focus on language and dialogue as the central facets of political theory. This chapter examines the inception of critical theory and then provides a detailed review of the contribution of Habermas to contemporary political theory.
Lars Vinx
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199227952
- eISBN:
- 9780191711077
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199227952.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
Hans Kelsen is considered to be one of the founding fathers of modern legal philosophy. But despite Kelsen's prominence as a legal theorist, his political theory has been mostly overlooked. This book ...
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Hans Kelsen is considered to be one of the founding fathers of modern legal philosophy. But despite Kelsen's prominence as a legal theorist, his political theory has been mostly overlooked. This book argues that Kelsen's Pure Theory of Law needs to be read in the context of Kelsen's political theory. It offers the first comprehensive interpretation of the Pure Theory that makes systematic use of Kelsen's conception of the rule of law, his theory of democracy, his defense of constitutional review, and his views on international law. Once it is read in the context of Kelsen's political works, Kelsen's conception of legality provides the basis for a notion of political legitimacy that is distinct from any comprehensive and contestable theory of justice. It shows how members of pluralist societies can reasonably acknowledge the binding nature of law, even where its content does not fully accord with their own substantive views of the requirements of justice, provided it is created in accordance with an ideal of fair arbitration amongst social groups. This result leads to a fundamental re-evaluation of the Pure Theory of Law. The theory is best understood as an attempt to find a middle ground between natural law and legal positivism. Later positivist legal theorists inspired by Kelsen's work failed to appreciate the political-theoretical context of the Pure Theory and turned to a narrow instrumentalism about the functions of law. The perspective on Kelsen offered in this book aims to reconnect positivist legal thought with normative political theory.Less
Hans Kelsen is considered to be one of the founding fathers of modern legal philosophy. But despite Kelsen's prominence as a legal theorist, his political theory has been mostly overlooked. This book argues that Kelsen's Pure Theory of Law needs to be read in the context of Kelsen's political theory. It offers the first comprehensive interpretation of the Pure Theory that makes systematic use of Kelsen's conception of the rule of law, his theory of democracy, his defense of constitutional review, and his views on international law. Once it is read in the context of Kelsen's political works, Kelsen's conception of legality provides the basis for a notion of political legitimacy that is distinct from any comprehensive and contestable theory of justice. It shows how members of pluralist societies can reasonably acknowledge the binding nature of law, even where its content does not fully accord with their own substantive views of the requirements of justice, provided it is created in accordance with an ideal of fair arbitration amongst social groups. This result leads to a fundamental re-evaluation of the Pure Theory of Law. The theory is best understood as an attempt to find a middle ground between natural law and legal positivism. Later positivist legal theorists inspired by Kelsen's work failed to appreciate the political-theoretical context of the Pure Theory and turned to a narrow instrumentalism about the functions of law. The perspective on Kelsen offered in this book aims to reconnect positivist legal thought with normative political theory.
Bas. C. van Fraassen
- Published in print:
- 1980
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198244271
- eISBN:
- 9780191597473
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198244274.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This book presents an empiricist alternative (‘constructive empiricism’) to both logical positivism and scientific realism. Against the former, it insists on a literal understanding of the language ...
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This book presents an empiricist alternative (‘constructive empiricism’) to both logical positivism and scientific realism. Against the former, it insists on a literal understanding of the language of science and on an irreducibly pragmatic dimension of theory acceptance. Against scientific realism, it insists that the central aim of science is empirical adequacy (‘saving the phenomena’) and that even unqualified acceptance of a theory involves no more belief than that this goal is met. Beginning with a critique of the metaphysical arguments that typically accompany scientific realism, a new characterization of empirical adequacy is presented, together with an interpretation of probability in both modern and contemporary physics and a pragmatic theory of explanation.Less
This book presents an empiricist alternative (‘constructive empiricism’) to both logical positivism and scientific realism. Against the former, it insists on a literal understanding of the language of science and on an irreducibly pragmatic dimension of theory acceptance. Against scientific realism, it insists that the central aim of science is empirical adequacy (‘saving the phenomena’) and that even unqualified acceptance of a theory involves no more belief than that this goal is met. Beginning with a critique of the metaphysical arguments that typically accompany scientific realism, a new characterization of empirical adequacy is presented, together with an interpretation of probability in both modern and contemporary physics and a pragmatic theory of explanation.
Pavlos Eleftheriadis
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199545285
- eISBN:
- 9780191719899
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545285.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
How can there be rights in law? We learn from moral philosophy that rights protect persons in a special way because they have peremptory force. But how can this aspect of practical reason be captured ...
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How can there be rights in law? We learn from moral philosophy that rights protect persons in a special way because they have peremptory force. But how can this aspect of practical reason be captured by the law? For many leading legal philosophers the legal order is constructed on the foundations of factual sources and with materials provided by technical argument. For this ‘legal positivist’ school of jurisprudence, the law endorses rights by some official act suitably communicated. But how can any such legal enactment recreate the proper force of rights? Rights take their meaning and importance from moral reflection, which only expresses itself in practical reasoning. This puzzle about rights invites a reconsideration of the nature and methods of legal doctrine and of jurisprudence itself. Legal Rights argues that the theory of law and legal concepts is a project of moral and political philosophy, the best account of which is to be found in the social contract tradition. It outlines an argument according to which legal rights can be justified before equal citizens under the constraints of public reason. The place of rights in law is explained by the unique position of law as an essential component of the civil condition and a necessary condition for freedom.Less
How can there be rights in law? We learn from moral philosophy that rights protect persons in a special way because they have peremptory force. But how can this aspect of practical reason be captured by the law? For many leading legal philosophers the legal order is constructed on the foundations of factual sources and with materials provided by technical argument. For this ‘legal positivist’ school of jurisprudence, the law endorses rights by some official act suitably communicated. But how can any such legal enactment recreate the proper force of rights? Rights take their meaning and importance from moral reflection, which only expresses itself in practical reasoning. This puzzle about rights invites a reconsideration of the nature and methods of legal doctrine and of jurisprudence itself. Legal Rights argues that the theory of law and legal concepts is a project of moral and political philosophy, the best account of which is to be found in the social contract tradition. It outlines an argument according to which legal rights can be justified before equal citizens under the constraints of public reason. The place of rights in law is explained by the unique position of law as an essential component of the civil condition and a necessary condition for freedom.
Bobby Sayyid and Lilian Zac
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198292371
- eISBN:
- 9780191600159
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198292376.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Reference
Introducing central conceptual themes employed in discourse analysis, another challenge to the positivist assumptions underlying conventional social science. The concepts covered are ...
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Introducing central conceptual themes employed in discourse analysis, another challenge to the positivist assumptions underlying conventional social science. The concepts covered are anti‐foundationalism; anti‐essentialism; identity and difference; post‐structuralism; hegemony; subjects and identities. How these concepts are used in discourse theoretical approaches to analysing socio‐political phenomena is outlined.Less
Introducing central conceptual themes employed in discourse analysis, another challenge to the positivist assumptions underlying conventional social science. The concepts covered are anti‐foundationalism; anti‐essentialism; identity and difference; post‐structuralism; hegemony; subjects and identities. How these concepts are used in discourse theoretical approaches to analysing socio‐political phenomena is outlined.
Patrick Dunleavy
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294719
- eISBN:
- 9780191599361
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294719.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Reference
Traces political behaviour research as a gradual shift from modernism to post‐modernism, reflected in the use of positivist methodologies in institutional approaches to methodological pluralism and ...
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Traces political behaviour research as a gradual shift from modernism to post‐modernism, reflected in the use of positivist methodologies in institutional approaches to methodological pluralism and experimental methods. Following this underlying shift from parsimony to complexity, a current stagnation in political behaviour research is highlighted. Urges the integration and combination of insights from theoretical approaches, rather than a shift towards the wholesale relativism of post‐modern critiques.Less
Traces political behaviour research as a gradual shift from modernism to post‐modernism, reflected in the use of positivist methodologies in institutional approaches to methodological pluralism and experimental methods. Following this underlying shift from parsimony to complexity, a current stagnation in political behaviour research is highlighted. Urges the integration and combination of insights from theoretical approaches, rather than a shift towards the wholesale relativism of post‐modern critiques.
J. Ann Tickner
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294719
- eISBN:
- 9780191599361
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294719.003.0018
- Subject:
- Political Science, Reference
Questions the optimism for international relations cited in the 1975 Handbook of Political Science. Unprecedented global change has divided international relations, and optimism for consensus has ...
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Questions the optimism for international relations cited in the 1975 Handbook of Political Science. Unprecedented global change has divided international relations, and optimism for consensus has eroded. Through a diversity of viewpoints, feminism provides optimism for the broadening of theory and of empirical base. Using a post‐positivist methodology, feminism challenges ethnocentrism and state‐centrism, and rejects universalism and claims of objectivity. Feminism's appreciation of difference provides realistic optimism for the future of international relations.Less
Questions the optimism for international relations cited in the 1975 Handbook of Political Science. Unprecedented global change has divided international relations, and optimism for consensus has eroded. Through a diversity of viewpoints, feminism provides optimism for the broadening of theory and of empirical base. Using a post‐positivist methodology, feminism challenges ethnocentrism and state‐centrism, and rejects universalism and claims of objectivity. Feminism's appreciation of difference provides realistic optimism for the future of international relations.
Klaus von Beyme
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294719
- eISBN:
- 9780191599361
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294719.003.0022
- Subject:
- Political Science, Reference
Provides a chronology of shifting paradigms, tracing a shift from ‘grand ideas’ to empirical studies. These changes are not universal, seen in the ‘geography of paradigm shifts’ of France, Germany, ...
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Provides a chronology of shifting paradigms, tracing a shift from ‘grand ideas’ to empirical studies. These changes are not universal, seen in the ‘geography of paradigm shifts’ of France, Germany, Britain, and the USA. Methodological approaches are situated within a framework of comparisons of the micro or the macro, and systems or actors. A minimal consensus is developing, in the theme of communitarianism. Empirical political theory reflects the revival of old positions in new formats, unlike the Kuhnian paradigmatic revolutions of the natural sciences.Less
Provides a chronology of shifting paradigms, tracing a shift from ‘grand ideas’ to empirical studies. These changes are not universal, seen in the ‘geography of paradigm shifts’ of France, Germany, Britain, and the USA. Methodological approaches are situated within a framework of comparisons of the micro or the macro, and systems or actors. A minimal consensus is developing, in the theme of communitarianism. Empirical political theory reflects the revival of old positions in new formats, unlike the Kuhnian paradigmatic revolutions of the natural sciences.
Robert E. Goodin and Hans‐Dieter Klingemann
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294719
- eISBN:
- 9780191599361
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294719.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Reference
What is political science and what are its main contentions? Reviews the discipline and its contemporary boundaries with regard to theoretical questions and methodological integration. The discipline ...
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What is political science and what are its main contentions? Reviews the discipline and its contemporary boundaries with regard to theoretical questions and methodological integration. The discipline is maturing, seen in an embrace of pluralism and an overlapping consensus in the role of rationality, institutions, and culture. Reviews new themes built on previous omissions, such as feminism, leading to post‐modern and post‐positivist approaches. Calculates the sub‐discipline powerhouses and most‐ cited authors across the field––across which the whole book provides an overview.Less
What is political science and what are its main contentions? Reviews the discipline and its contemporary boundaries with regard to theoretical questions and methodological integration. The discipline is maturing, seen in an embrace of pluralism and an overlapping consensus in the role of rationality, institutions, and culture. Reviews new themes built on previous omissions, such as feminism, leading to post‐modern and post‐positivist approaches. Calculates the sub‐discipline powerhouses and most‐ cited authors across the field––across which the whole book provides an overview.
